RALEIGH, N.C. Helping pastors help the jobless

Clergy are often at a loss when congregants ask for help finding a job.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Faced with newly unemployed parishioners, the Rev. Anthony Spearman considered it a godsend when he received a copy of a guidebook aimed at helping pastors deal with job loss in their congregations.
The Rev. Mr. Spearman, pastor of Moore's Chapel AME Zion Church in Salisbury, N.C., was struggling to help two congregants who had lost their jobs at Pillowtex Corp. after the textile maker went out of business last summer. He was unprepared to advise them on issues such as how to apply for retraining, unemployment payments and trade adjustment assistance.
"I was grasping for something -- what can I do?" said Mr. Spearman, dean of students at Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, N.C. "It was very frustrating."
That's why Mr. Spearman was so excited about "Job Loss: A Guidebook for Pastors."
He gave copies of the book to ministers and their associates in the 17 churches that comprise AME Zion's Salisbury district, where many former Pillowtex workers are members. The book is published by the North Carolina Council of Churches.
Kannapolis, N.C.-based Pillowtex shut down July 30, eliminating the jobs of 7,650 workers. The 4,800 jobs lost in North Carolina were the largest mass layoff in state history.
Totally unexpected
Anne Knox, 58, who is a member of the Moore's Chapel congregation, worked at Pillowtex for more than 33 years as a weaver and loom cleaner. Now, she needs to learn how to look for a job and is hoping Mr. Spearman can help her.
"This is the first time I've ever had to draw unemployment," said Knox, who is without health insurance. "I don't like it all. I never thought it was going to come down to this."
Barbara Zelter, the book's author, got the idea for it while working in Robeson County, where a net total of nearly 5,000 jobs have been lost since 1995, most in manufacturing.
"It occurred to us that pastors may not be equipped to understand the systems people are facing who lose jobs," said Zelter, who works as a program associate for the churches council.
Zelter said her guidebook is part of an expanded commitment by the council of churches.
The council has long supported labor unions and "living wage" campaigns, which seek pay above the minimum wage for struggling families, Zelter said. But now, the council hopes to bring community organizing to economic campaigns statewide.
Other efforts
The council has supported efforts to win raises for the state government's lowest-paid workers, and state officials said last month they would give those workers a rare midyear salary increase.
The council also is part of a campaign for better working conditions at Smithfield Packing Co. in Tar Heel, the world's largest slaughterhouse, where almost 7.5 million hogs are processed each year.
"Our government should reinvest in places that NAFTA and other trade agreements have ruined," she said. "This was a predictable collapse of jobs in rural areas. And families are suffering. We need to find a way to reinvest where the damage has been done."